


Of Pucks and Pillows

by Aer



Series: The Tower and the Ice [3]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Cute, Domestic, Fluff, M/M, Timestamp, alternating pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 08:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19787236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aer/pseuds/Aer
Summary: A few months after stopping a panel from crushing his teammates, Elias is dissatisfied with his level of control. His attempts to improve that have... a few hiccups.





	Of Pucks and Pillows

**Author's Note:**

> As it turns out, I wasn’t quite ready to let go of this universe. Not sure if there will be another long fic, but this timestamp idea just wouldn’t let go, and I figured it was too cute to pass up.
> 
> Edit: obligatory “if you found this by googling yourself or someone you know personally, please hit the back button now and spare us both the embarrassment.”

“Fuck!” 

David paused in the apartment’s doorway as several somethings clattered noisily to the ground, followed by a rapid stream of half Swedish, half English cursing. Something bumped against his foot. Looking down, David was bemused to find a puck. He picked it up absently, already reaching out for Elias. 

“Babe?” He called out, cautious after that unexpected welcome back. He wasn’t sure what was going on- Elias wasn’t pinging again. This was a significantly more unusual occurrence now, as Elias had adjusted to having another Talent around full time. He tended to revert back to the thicker shields when stressed or upset, and, if the chain of swearing was any indication, Elias was currently both. 

The curses cut off abruptly. “Hey. I’m in the kitchen.” Elias didn’t sound overly enthused, but David didn’t think it had anything to do with him, personally. 

He tapped on Elias’s shields, which swiftly rearranged to let him in. 

_:Falling back into old habits?:_ He ‘pathed, making his way to the kitchen. Elias wasn’t actively trying to conceal whatever had been going on, but the particulars were buried under so many layers of frustration and disappointment that it was quicker to just ask. 

_:I was trying something new.:_ Was offered back, neutral. 

Then David actually made it to the kitchen, and nearly bit through his lip trying not to burst out laughing.

* * *

Elias could _feel_ the mirth radiating from David at the tableau he made, slumped against the kitchen counter and surrounded by literal dozens of hockey pucks, and he glared. It had no effect. 

If anything, the sense of hilarity increased, along with a hastily muted mental image of a soaked, disgruntled kitten. Elias wasn’t wet, thankfully, but the rest of it was... probably accurate. He sighed, and redirected his gaze from David to the mass of pucks littering the floor. Half heartedly, he tried to kick them into a pile to pick up. Slowly, David looked down, and then back up at Elias. His lips twitched. 

Elias narrowed his eyes. “Don’t.” He warned. 

David’s lips twitched harder, but he didn’t laugh. Barely. “Want to explain?” His voice nearly shook with mirth, and he switched back to ‘pathing between one word and the next. _:Because it looks like you stole half the rink’s stock of pucks.:_

 _:Not half!:_ Elias protested. David raised an eyebrow, and ‘pathing was definitely not hiding how amusing he found the whole thing. _:I took a few.:_ He admitted. _:Most of these are mine, though.:_

_:And what were you doing with them?:_ David prodded gently, and Elias felt his (reluctant) good mood plummet right back down into frustration. 

Crossing his arms, he looked away. _:Elias?:_ David’s concern was thick on Elias’s tongue, and that only made Elias grimmer. Not only was _he_ feeling shitty, he’d brought David down with him. David picked his way through the pucks until he was standing close enough to Elias for them to share breath. “Babe?” His voice was so gentle as he nudged up against Elias’s mind. There was nothing but concern and love in his voice, and Elias let his shoulders slump. 

“I was trying to practice my control of more complicated acts of telekinesis.” He admitted. 

David blinked. It was clear from the blankness of his mind that he hadn’t expected that- though really, he hadn’t had _any_ concrete ideas for why Elias would bring a box of pucks home and dump them all over the kitchen. 

_:Huh.:_

Elias gave him a half smile. _:Yeah...:_ He shrugged, feeling a little helpless. It was no wonder David was bemused. Elias himself couldn’t really explain why, after over ten years of pretending he didn’t have the Talent for it, he was suddenly interested in getting better. 

Well. No. Not quite. 

There was a reason. Not a great one, not one he even really wanted to voice, but... It was there, nonetheless. 

Elias was almost completely untrained as a Talent, and while being a Prime gave him an edge over most people, even most Talents, compared to FT&T’s actual Primes... Elias had felt, from David’s mind, what a practiced, trained Prime was capable of, and it made moving mountains sound like an afterthought. 

In contrast, Elias had had to blow out half the lights in the practice rink to stop a paltry metal panel, and that... that didn’t sit well with him. 

Elias was a hockey player. Competitiveness was set deep into his bones, and more than that, he wasn’t used to being the worst around. He wasn’t the best- he played in a league with Sidney Crosby for fuck’s sake, but damnit, Elias could hold his fucking own! The idea of not being able to do that with the other Primes...

It left a bad taste in his mouth, was all. He might not ever want to actually meet them or be required to work with them, but damnit, even if he was the only one who knew there was a competition, he sure as hell wasn’t going to come in dead last. 

Besides. Elias was a hockey player. Having to practice and work for his skill came as easily to him as breathing. His Talent was just another muscle- one dusty and atrophied from years of neglect, but still there. And Elias knew a lot about building up muscles. 

David’s forehead pressing to his made Elias startle. Of course, David had heard all of that, all of his rambling thoughts- Elias almost never bothered to shield even his deepest thoughts from David now, and linked as they were now it wouldn’t even take an effort. 

“Baby, why didn’t you talk to me?” David’s eyes were soft and warm, soothing as hot chocolate. Elias shrugged. He hadn’t tried to hide it, but he hadn’t gone out of his way to make David aware of it either. 

Hell, until about an hour ago, it had mostly been a subconscious rumination, not an actual plan. 

David’s smile was small, but so fond it made Elias’s heart ache. “Only you.” He chuckled. Elias blinked at him. David leaned in the last inch of space separating them to press a kiss to Elias’s lips. _:Only you would realize that you were more powerful than 99.9% of the world, and then take offense at the fact that you were the least trained of that 0.1%.:_ Pressed so close, Elias couldn’t help but feel David’s mind, like a banked fire just waiting to blaze to life, and so full of love it almost hurt. 

“Yeah.” David agreed with his thoughts. “I love you a lot. Even when you do strange things like cover your kitchen with pucks instead of asking the guy who was actually trained to help out Primes.” He smiled, amused but not unkind. 

Elias’s cheeks warmed, at that, and he ducked his head. “It was kind of impulsive.” He admitted quietly. Which also wasn’t really like him. Years upon years of keeping a secret that could destroy him had definitely beaten most impulsive urges out of him. 

“Oh, definitely.” David agreed, smile widening. “It was a good idea, just...”

“Lacking in execution?” Elias supplied dryly. Getting pelted with pucks without pads had not been the highlight of his day, to say the least. 

“You could say that. C’mon, let’s pick these up and talk some options, ok?”

They ended up sweeping the whole mess into a box with a broom. Then Elias turned his eyes expectantly on David.

* * *

David grinned as his boyfriend’s eyes, wide and hopeful and bright like the summer sky, met his. Elias’s mind was brimming with excitement and anticipation. David was glad. He hadn’t pushed Elias to do much with his newly revealed Talent, if only because he didn’t want Elias to think David only valued him as a Prime. It may have been their Talents that brought them together, but there was so much more to it than that- David loved Elias because he was _Elias_. Part of Elias was his Talent, to be sure, but David also loved his determination to do well on the ice, his drive to improve, his quiet sense of humor. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t absolutely _delighted_ to help Elias explore some of the Talent he’d kept pushed down and hidden for so long. 

He wrapped his fingers around Elias’s wrist and tugged him into the living room and down on the couch. Elias quirked an eyebrow. David shrugged. _:Might as well be comfortable, right?:_

_:Sure.:_ Elias agreed. _:So. Where did I go wrong with the drill?:_ And well. Hockey terminology was probably the easiest way to think of this, for the both of them. It had been a long time since David had seriously done anything with a Talent. 

_:Too many moving parts, too many small pieces.:_ David called up a few of the exercises he’d seen for the telekinetics. _:Start simple, and actually a little bigger, makes it easier for your mind to keep hold of it. You’ll be able to train up to moving bigger objects too, power will come in time. Most telekinetics just naturally grow into larger masses as they age, but you’re going to be a unique case.:_

Elias grimaced at that, but understood the point. _:Gotta start from the basics.:_ David could feel how that chafed, and he pushed encouragement and confidence through the link. He had no doubt Elias could be a great Prime, if that was what he wanted. 

_:Mostly, I just want to stop feeling weak.:_ David could feel how much it had taken for Elias to admit that, and so he didn’t say anything. 

Instead, he held out one of the decorative pillows that had come with the couch. _:Start with this. Try moving it around, or ‘porting it from me to you.:_ He suggested. Elias’s eyebrow quirked again, amusement leaking from him like a sieve. _:It hurts a lot less to get hit with.:_ David explained, shameless. 

_:Now **that** sounds like a challenge.:_ Was David‘s only warning before he was being (gently) beaten over the head with a telekinetically wielded pillow that chased him as he ran around the room in an attempt to escape. 

Elias’s laughter- and his unconscious, deft control now that he’d stopped trying so hard to force it- rang in David’s mind like the sweetest music.


End file.
